Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-04-27
THE PERPETUITY OF NATURE.

VINO will examine its pages with attention
VIII md beauties and sublimities at ever,
step. What appears at first dry and unin
terestlng, will, as he proceeds, absorb hi
attention, and fill his mind with longing
desire to know more of this marvellous vol
ume. New surprises await him at every
turn, which before be had thoughtlessly
passed by, and he wonders that he ha(
never dreamed of them before. AS he ad
vances in contemplation to the higher anc
grander works of creation, his views are
wldened, and expanded, and holy Nature
points him to the everlasting God, that pre-
j sides over all, and holds in His hands the
destinies of the universe.
There is no death! Il is at first thought
surprising assertion. And yet, in one
sense, it is nevertheless true. In the entire
realm OF nature we can conceive of nothing
lost. Complete annihilation is unknown
Things seem to perish, and pass away but
they only change. They may be disnte.
grated and dissolved, and in new comblna.
tions help to form different substances
but, although differently combined, the
original elements are in existence still. A
stick of wood may be placed in the fire, and
burned up; but it is not annihilated. The
smoke and ashes remain. 1t has passed
through the change and, although in an
other form, still exists An iron bolt, or a
nail, may be exposed to acids, or hidden in
the earth, and in time they will be eaten
up by the rust. As bolt of iron it has
passed away; but if we examine closely,
we shall find the yellow rust interming!ed
with the soil. And who shall say that the
brilliant flower that unfolds its beauteous
petals above the grassy knoll where it was
buried, does not derive some of its elegant
colors from its diffused elements.
Water may be poured into a kettle and
boiled away, until the receptacle is dry and
nothing remains therein. But it is not
lost. 1t has simply changed, and assumed
another form. The steam that arose from
it during evaporation was enough to fill a
large room. Could it have been compressed
and utilized, it would have generated power
enough to have moved a locomotive. Be-
ing lighter than the surrounding air, it
arose and fioated away in the atmosphere,
there to coadense and descend in rain, per-
haps ON SINE distant hillside, hundreds of
miles away.
A single drop of water has an eternal
mission to perform, as we'll as the mightiest
WORLDS that wheel on their appointed
courses round the sun. Last week it was
passing down some river yesterday it was
float away in vapory cloud tomorrow it
may be condensed by passing current of
air, and descend as a rain-drop again. A
week hence it may be changed to steam in
some locomotive boiler and again, after
ascending and becoming condensed, we
may ind it as drop of pearly dew on some
tiny plant, there performing its mission,
and in existence still.
The smallest entity in creation performs
a ceaseless and eternal journey. We be-
hold it as particle of dust, floating in the
sunbeam Ages ago, before the world as
sumed its present condition, it performed
its part as well as now. The history of it's
endless journey would form a wonderful
volume. 1t has been in the rock, in the
SOIL in the plant, and it has been borne on
the wings of the wind. We draw it into
our lungs with the air we breathe, or un-
consciously swallow it with the apple or
vegetable we eat, and month hence it
may be coursing through our veins in the
crimson life tide. 1t may change to diff
ferent form, and enter into the composition
of bone and muscle; but it is not lost. 1t
has place i'll nature still. What formed
part of craggy hillside a thousand years
ago, may to-day form part of cur existing
bodies.
The forest oak grows up healthy and
and its giant branches spread far
and wide, defyirg the heavy autumnal
gales and the boreal blasts of winter. But |
1t cannot always last. A change must |
come. The leaves wither and dry up, the
sap ceases to flow, and decay commences. |
We call it death 1t falls to the ground, |
and decomposition goes forward with un-
faltering step. It returns to the earth from
whence it sprung. Its vegetable life passes
away in one form, to arise in another for |
nothing dies. The elements of future being
come forth from the change, ready to as
sumo another organization. Where shall |
we look for them next? In the rank fern,
The brlar, and the young and thrifty trees
mat spring up and grow around the spot
in the luxuriant grass and grain that grow
there when the forest has been cleared
away; in the OK and horse that feed upon
them in after years.
The human body is an earthly machine
IN which reason, the mind, the eternal soul,
sits enthroned. Like everything else per-
tanning to the earth, it must change and
decay, Dissolution must sooner or later
come; for, as it sprung from the earth, to
-he earth it must return. The machinery
1f life will stop, and tho long imprisoned
soul will leave its tenement of clay and go
forth to meet its Maker. We call it DEATH
The body will decempose and decay, as all
earthly bodies do, and its elements will
ningle with the SOIL But they will not
die They will assume new forms, and
new organizations, and live on, when king
1oms and empires, and nations, shall have
passed away, and the history of the ages
shall have been forgotten.
The earth itself is net exempt from the
L. 1
bear incontestable evidence of the wonder
[ll changes it has passed through. The
testimony of the rocks forms convincing
history of the mighty upheavals and con-
vulsions that have rent the world in the
former periods of its existence. Immense
Lodges have beoa riven asunder, and great
boulders and fragments are seen, scattered
over the land in wide profusion. If we
examine them closely, we see that the sides
and angles of many of them correspond to-
the sides and angles of others, perhaps
many rods away. Could the huge parts by
some superhuman power be placed together,
they would fit exactly. That they scere
once one. hardly admits of a reasonable
doubt. The mighty convulsion that rent
them in twain, and covered the ground |
with broken fragments, must have swept |
away all animal and vegetable life. 1t was
the dissolution-theg great geological change |
of the world But the world was not ami
hilated. The ements were here still, and |
q new organization commenced. New COM
binatiens and new creations, adapted to the |
new form of existence, followed. The
world did not die. The old organization, |
having accomplished its purpose, was dis
rupted and thrown off, to recombine and |
assume new and grander form of exis-
tence.
The grand operations of nature are ever |
busy, working silent and perpetual change
all the time. 1t is a preparatory age, and |
the world is being fitted and adapted for
the GREAT